Paul Robinson is one of the men behind the cult social media channels 'The Carlton Draft' and 'The Ressies Footballer'. 

His Black and White passion is unquestionable, and the views represented in this article are solely his own and not representative of the Collingwood Football Club.

Moments before the 2002 ANZAC Day match was about to begin Mick Malthouse stood before his players and cried.

Then in the two hours that followed, one of the most famous matches in Collingwood history took place.

Malthouse was always one to immerse himself in the occasion and on this day made sure his side did too.

As he read letters from some of the young boys who never returned home to their families from war, his emotions bubbled to the forefront and the reading of the letter was cut short.

The players sat in silence as Malthouse let his emotions come to the surface.

And all of a sudden, it was time to run out to a fully-seated MCG, with 84,894 fans on this occasion ready and waited to see what ANZAC Day 2002 would dish up.

“It was weird leaving the rooms after that pretty different pre-match address,” ANZAC Day Medalist Mark McGough reflected.



Mick Malthouse speaks to his Collingwood players during a wet ANZAC Day clash with Essendon in 2002. Photo: AFL Images

McGough had never experienced such an off-beat speech before a game before. Hell, at that stage he’d only sat listening to a Malthouse pre-game address once in his playing career.

But maybe Mick’s emotional, albeit unconventional approach had something to do with what happened to the wide-eyed 17-year-old in the biggest game of his career.

The boy from Mulwala had 24 disposals and wrote his name in the history books forever as that wet-weather specialist who turned it on in one of the biggest stages there is.

As for Mick, well he was never conventional in his coaching and this “pretty different” pre-match behavior worked wonders in inspiring a Collingwood team not many people rated that highly.

On this day, the blueprint for our back-to-back Grand Final seasons was laid out – a hardworking, disciplined and ruthless side that the opposition feared playing.

This was a famous day for the Black and White. A true changing of the guard as we pumped the side that had only lost six games in the past two seasons. A 33-point victory in the pouring rain was our first big scalp for the year and gave the Magpies the belief needed for our subsequent top four finish.

Forty-nine-gamers come and go, barely leaving a trace, but no Collingwood-loving football fan will forget Mark McGough.

And Mark McGough will never forget the day Mick Malthouse cried in his pre-game speech.

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Mark McGough celebrates the most famous moment of his 49-game career with Collingwood and St Kilda. Photo: AFL Images